Locomotive Fleet Size
The Steam Locomotives are Heritage preserved locomotives used for special services. These are maintained at Rewari (northern Railways) and Golden Rock Shed (Southern Railways)

Railway Electrification

India meets much of its liquid fossil fuel requirements through imports, which is a significant part of our import bill and as a result i past decade or so, Railways have been pushing for massive electrification of its routes. All mainline electrification is on 25 kV AC operating at 50 Hz

Zonal & Divisional Organization.
For ease of administration, Indian Railways is divided into 16 Zones and each zone is again organized into Divisions. Each Division is headed by a Divisional Rain Manager.

Head Quarters of Western Railways is at Churchgate (not Mumbai CST as mentioned)

Indian Railways: Mission electrification to cover 24,000 km track in 5 yearsCurrently about 2000 km track is being electrified in a year and the aim is to reach 4000 km per year by 2017-18 and 6000 km in subsequent year.

Setting an ambitious target of electrification of 24,000 km long track in the next five years, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday said it will help in running trains in a faster and cleaner manner. Besides, electrification of majority of routes will help railways in reducing the energy bill considerably, he said. “Railways’ expenditure on energy is the second highest after salary and pension bill. Expansion of electrified routes across the country will also help in reducing the energy bill as we have committed to reduce the energy cost,” he said at global seminar on Mission Electrification and Decarbonisation of Indian Railways here.

Describing the event as an “important milestone”, Prabhu said, “When railways started its operation it used horses to pull the train. Now we are using horsepower to move trains at faster pace. So it is back to roots.”

Currently about 2000 km track is being electrified in a year and the aim is to reach 4000 km per year by 2017-18 and 6000 km in subsequent year.

alking about mission electrification, Prabhu said, “The target is electrification of about 24,000 km in the next five years and the electrification will also reduce the energy bill. We have tied up with three PSUs to increase the pace of route electrification. With the expansion of electrification of majority of rail network, railways will run trains in a faster and cleaner manner.”

In order too fast track the pace of electrification Railways have joined hands with three PSUs – IRCON, RITES and PGCIL.

He also asked the three PSUs to compete with each other to complete the electrification work in faster way.

Railways expect to reduce fuel bill by Rs 10,000 cr annually through electrification of major routes.

Expressing concern over the ever-increasing pollution, he said, “Carbon emission is a major challenge in India and also in the world. We have reached level where carbon cannot be absorbed. We have to reduce the greenhouse gas significantly to prevent ill-effect of pollution on human lives.”

He said using clean energy including solar and wind power is key to reduce the emission level.

“Through electrification trains speed will go up. We have framed a time frame. Three PSUs have been roped in to do the electrification. It is very important for the environment point of view.”

Prabhu also highlighted railway’s partnership with various ministries including power, science and technology, environment to achieve its goal.

Patna: Railways is working on a proposal to carry out periodical overhauling (POH) of AC and special coaches at its Harnaut coach maintenance workshop in Nalanda district. A proposal to this effect has been sent to Railway Board for approval. As of now, the railways is carrying out POH of only passenger coaches at the Harnaut coach maintenance workshop, said chief mechanical engineer (CME) of East Central Railway (ECR) A K Chandra.
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam had laid the foundation for the workshop on June 30, 2003 in the home district of the then railway minister Nitish Kumar. The project was completed with an estimated expenditure of Rs 327 crore. Chandra said the workshop has the capacity to carry out POH of 50 coaches per month. “We intend to increase the capacity of the workshop to 100 coaches per month to meet the requirements of ECR zone. The workshop was first conceptualised for periodic overhauling of general coaches only,” he said, adding that currently, the POH of AC coaches is being done at Liluah workshop in West Bengal.
Chandra said the Harnaut workshop has started functioning with adequate infrastructure. “Sheet metal shop, bogie repair shop, wheel axle shop and administrative block (IT section) of the workshop are functioning smoothly,” he said. “The hi-tech carriage repair shop is facilitating smooth coach maintenance work,” Chandra added.
The coach maintenance workshop at Harnaut has been built in an area of 113 acres of land. Altogether 18 sheds have been built at the sprawling workshop. The special feature of the workshop is that it has been provided with the double-stacked coach maintenance technology to carry out POH of coaches.
Railways is also constructing 394 quarters for the railway officials and staff of the workshop on the sprawling campus. A Kendriya Vidyalaya has also been established near the workshop for the convenience of children of the railway employees. “A primary health centre would also be set up in the vicinity of the workshop for the employees and their family members,” sources said.

Indian Railways to roll out revamped AC-III tier coaches in mid-November; features include GPS, tea, coffee machines, CCTV cameras!

By India.com News Desk | Published: November 4, 2016 8:05 PM IST

New Delhi, November 4: When you think of a train ride in an Indian train, what comes to your mind? Crowded berths, awful smells, and equally awful food and bad seats. It’s the same story with all Indians who frequently travel by trains, even in AC coaches. The Indian Railways has however, made a huge effort to change the Indian train travelling experience. The newly revamped AC-III tier coaches will make your journeys a little more enjoyable and hopefully safe too. The new compartments, which are set to be rolled out in mid-November, will sport a brand new look with a slew of new features added to them. These include GPS, CCTV cameras and, tea and coffee machines.
But that’s not all- the compartments will also have smoke-and-fire detectors, automatic room fresheners (much needed), a light bar indicating numbers of the upper, middle and lower berths to replace the stenciled numbers on the walls, a new gel coating on the toilet walls which will make them ‘graffiti proof’, as well as curtains on side berths as well as in the aisles. The last feature is only available in higher class train coaches only. The new coaches will initially be deployed on all-AC-III tier Humsafar service. The trains are scheduled to start operations between Delhi and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.

As of now, only four trains will have these coaches which have been designed at the Rail Coach Factory in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh. Coaches for a fifth train are currently in production and will be rolled out later. A new innovation in the coaches of the fifth train will the removal of the space in the middle of the side lower berths, between the two lowered back rests. The gap has bothered designers for decades and they have finally worked a way around it. A separate thin berth has been tucked sideways between the wall and the side-lower seats. This edge works like a hand rest, until the passenger pulls it up and lays it over the two seats to become a separate “gapless” berth, reported the Indian Express. ALSO READ: Indian Railways to ink deal with Germany for high-speed trains
The report quoted an official as saying, “Earlier, the thinking was that extra or new features could be added only in higher classes. But this is reimagining an existing class, without giving it a luxury tag.” The AC-III tier is the most used category of train coaches in India and the last time it underwent a makeover was during the tenure of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav as the Union Railways Minister.
Published Date: November 4, 2016 8:05 PM IST